Federal Judge Upholds Minnesota’s Deadline Extension For Counting Ballots

Enlarge this image


A federal judge upheld Minnesota’s extension for counting mail-in ballots late Sunday after it was challenged by a pair of Republican electors in the state. A state court agreement had allowed ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 to be counted if received within seven days of the election.





Stephen Maturen/Getty Images



hide caption



toggle caption


Stephen Maturen/Getty Images








Transcript



The Associated Press reports that attorneys for the state had argued blocking the extension would sow confusion and potentially disenfranchise voters who’ve already been instructed their ballots can be counted if received after election day.

Minnesota began absentee voting on Sept. 18. Since then, like most of the country, the state has seen early and mail-in voting on pace to beat prior year records.

Minnesota Public Radio noted on Friday that more than 635,000 people had already cast ballots and 43.5% of the state’s registered voters had requested to vote absentee. In 2016, some 676,000 people voted early in the state.

Brasel’s ruling also comes days after a federal appeals court struck down a similar six-day extension for absentee ballots in Wisconsin.

• absentee voting


• 2020 election


• Minnesota